hello. my name's forrest gump.
you want a chocolate?
i could eat about a million and a half of these. my momma always said, "life was like a box of chocolates. you never know what you're gonna get."
those must be comfortable shoes. i'll bet you could walk all day in shoes like that and not feel a thing. i wish i had shoes like that.
momma always says there's an awful lot you could tell about a person by their shoes. where they're going. where they've been.
i've worn lots of shoes. i bet if i think about it real hard i could remember my first pair of shoes.
momma said they'd take my anywhere.
she said they was my magic shoes.
now, when i was a baby, momma named me after the great civil war hero, general nathan bedford forrest.
she said we was related to him in some way. and, what he did was, he started up this club called the ku klux klan. they'd all dress up in their robes and their bedsheets and act like a bunch of ghosts or spooks or something. they'd even put bedsheets on their horses and ride around. and anyway, that's how i got my name. forrest gump.
momma said that the forrest part was to remind me that sometimes we all do things that, well, just don't make no sense.
momma always had a way of explaining things so i could understand them.
we lived about a quarter mile of route 17, about a half mile from the town of greenbow, alabama. that's in the county of greenbow. our house had been in momma's family since her grandpa's grandpa's grandpa had come across the ocean about a thousand years ago. something like that.
since it was just me and momma and we had all these empty rooms, momma decided to let those rooms out. mostly to people passing through. like from, oh, mobile, montgomery, place like that. that's how me and mommy got money. mommy was a real smart lady.
she wanted me to have the finest education, so she took me to the greenbow county central school. i met the principal and all.
momma, what's vacation mean?
where daddy went?
anyway, i guess you could say me and momma was on our own.
but we didn't mind. our house was never empty. there was always folks comin' and goin'.
sometimes we had so many people stayin' with us that every room was filled with travelers. you know, folks livin' out of their suitcases, and hat cases, and sample cases.
one time a young man was staying with us, and he had him a guitar case.
i liked that guitar.
it sounded good.
i started moving around to the music, swinging my hips. this one night me and momma.
was out shoppin', and we walked right by benson's furniture and appliance store, and guess what.
some years later, that handsome young man who they called "the king," well, he sung too many songs, had himself a heart attack or something.
must be hard being a king. you know, it's funny how you remember some things, but some things you can't.
i sure will, momma.
i remember the bus ride on the first day of school very well.
momma said not to be taking rides from strangers.
i'm forrest gump.
well, now we ain't strangers anymore.
you know, it's funny what a young man recollects. 'cause i don't remember being born.
i, i.  don't recall what i got for my first christmas and i don't know when i went on my first outdoor picnic. but, i do remember the first time i heard the sweetiest voice.
in the wide world.
i had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. she was like an angel.
um, nothing at all, thank you. my legs are just fine and dandy.
i just sat next to her on that bus and had conversation all the way to school.
my momma said my back's crooked like a question mark. these are going to make me as straight as an arrow. they're my magic shoes.
and next to momma, no one ever talked to me or asked me questions.
mommy says stupid is as stupid does.
i'm forrest gump. forrest gump.
from that day on, we was always together. jenny and me was like peas and carrots.
she taught me how to climb.
i showed her how to dangle.
". a good little monkey and"
she helped me to learn how to read.
and i showed her to swing.
sometimes we'd just sit out and wait for the stars.
momma's gonna worry about me.
for some reason, jenny didn't never want to go home.
okay, jenny. i'll stay.
she was my most special friend.
my only friend.
now, my momma always told me that miracles happen every day. some people don't think so, but they do.
now, you wouldn't believe it if i told you.
but i can run like the wind blows.
from that day on, if i was going somewhere, i was running!
now remember how i told you that jenny never seemed to want to go home? well, she lived in a house that was as old as alabama. her momma had gone up to heaven when she was five and her daddy was some kind of a farmer.
jenny? jenny?
he was a very lovin' man. he was always kissing and touchin' her and her sisters. and then this one time, jenny wasn't on the bus to go to school.
jenny, why didn't you come to school today?
momma always said that god is mysterious.
he didn't turn jenny into a bird that day. instead.
he had the police say jenny didn't have to stay in that house no more. she went to live with her grandma just over on creekmore avenue, which made me happy 'cause she was so close.
some nights, jenny'd sneak out and come over to my house, just 'cause she said she was scared. scared of what, i don't know.
but i think it was her grandma's dog. he was a mean dog. anyway, jenny and me was best friends.
all the way to high school.
now, it used to be, i ran to get where i was goin'. i never thought it would take me anywhere.
and can you believe it? i got to go to college, too.
now, maybe it was just me but college was very confusing times.
earl, what's going on?
coons? when raccoons try to get on our back porch, momma just chase 'em off with a broom.
with us? they do?
ma'am, you dropped your book. ma'am.
a few years later, that angry little man at the schoolhouse door thought it would be a good idea, and ran for president.
but, somebody thought that it wasn't.
but he didn't die.
is it the number 9?
it was nice talkin' to you.
did you go to a girls' college, or to a girls' and boys' together college?
'cause jenny went to a college i couldn't go to. it was a college just for girls.
but, i'd go and visit her every chance i got.
he was hurtin' you.
i brought you some chocolates. i'm sorry. i'll go back to my college now.
is this your room?
who i'm gonna be?
aren't i going to be me?
i sit next to them in my home economics class all the time.
ohh.  oh.  i'm sorry. sorry.
oh, i'm dizzy.
no.
i think i ruined your roommate's bathrobe.
college ran by real fast 'cause i played so much football.
they even put me on a thing called the all-america team where you get to meet the president of the united states.
now, the real good thing about meeting the president of the united states is the food.
they put you in this little room with just about anything you'd want to eat or drink. and since number one, i wasn't hungry, but thirsty.
and number two, they was free, i musta drank me about fifteen dr. peppers.
i gotta pee.
sometime later, for no particular reason, somebody shot that nice young president when he was ridin' in his car.
and a few years after that.
somebody shot his little brother, too, only he was in a hotel kitchen.
it must be hard being brothers. i wouldn't know.
now can you believe it? after only five years of playing football, i got a college degree.
momma was proud.
thought?
hello, i'm forrest.
forrest gump.
at first, it seemed like i made a mistake.
seeing how it was my induction day and i was already gettin' yelled at.
i didn't know who i might meet or what they might ask.
no, but i been on a real big boat.
my name's forrest gump. people call me forrest gump.
so bubba was from bayou la batre, alabama, and his momma cooked shrimp.
and her momma before her cooked shrimp.
and her momma before her momma cooked shrimp, too. bubba's family knew everything.
there was to know about the shrimpin' business.
okay.
to do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant!
now, for some reason, i fit in the army like one of them round pegs. it's not really hard. you just make your bed real neat and remember to stand up straight.
and always answer every question with "yes, drill sergeant!"
done, drill sergeant!
you told me to, drill sergeant.
nighttime in the army is a lovely time.
we'd lay there in our bunks, and i'd miss my momma. and i'd miss jenny.
turns out, jenny had gotten into some trouble over.  some photos of her in her college sweater. and she was thrown out of school.
but that wasn't a bad thing. because a man who owns a theater in memphis, tennessee, saw those photo and offered jenny a job singing in a show. the first chance i got, i took the bus up to memphis to see her perform in that show.
her dream had come true. she was a folk singer.
come on.
they was tryin' to grab you.
i can't help it. i love you.
yes, i do.
what do you mean, jenny?
but wait. jenny!
so bye-bye, jenny. they sendin' me to vietnam. it's this whole other country.
okay. jenny, i'll write you all the time.
and just like that.
she was gone.
now, they told us that vietnam was gonna be very different from the united sates of america.
except for all the beer cans and the barbecue, it was.
no, we are not relations, sir.
lt. dan sure knew his stuff. i felt real lucky he was my lieutenant. he was from a long, great military tradition. somebody in his family had fought and died in every single american war.
i guess you could say he had a lot to live up to.
i sure hope i don't let him down.
i got to see a lot of countryside. we would take these real long walks.
it wasn't always fun. lt. dan always gettin' these funny feelings about a rock or a trail, or the road, so he'd tell you to get down, shut up!
so we did.
now, i don't know much about anything, but i think some of american's best young men served in this war. there was dallas, from phoenix. cleveland, he was from detroit.
and tex was, well, i don't remember where tex come from.
the good thing about vietnam is there was always someplace to go.
and there was always something to do.
one day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months.
we been through every kind of rain there is. little bitty stingin' rain.
and big ol' fat rain.
rain that flew in sideways.
and sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath.
shoot, it even rained at night.
hey bubba.
okay.
that's a fine idea.
bubba did have a fine idea.
i even wrote jenny and told her all about it. i sent her letters. not every day, but almost. i told her what i was doin' and asked her what she was doing, and i told her how i thought about her always.
and how i was looking forward to getting a letter from her just as soon as she had the time i'd always let her know that i was okay.
then i'd sign each letter, "love, forrest gump."
this one day, we was out walking, like always, and then, just like that, somebody turned off the rain and the sun come out.
i ran and ran, just like jenny told me to.
i ran so far and so fast that pretty soon i was all by myself, which was a bad thing.
bubba!
bubba was my best good friend. i had to make sure he was okay.
bubba?
and on my way back to find bubba, well, there was this boy laying on the ground.
tex!
okay.
i couldn't just let him lay there all alone, scared the way he was, so i grabbed him up and run him out of there.
and every time i went back looking for bubba, somebody else was saying, "help me, forrest. help me."
i started to get scared that i might never find bubba.
lieutenant dan, coleman's dead!
then it felt like something just jumped up and bit me.
ah, something bit me!
to get bubba.
i gotta find bubba!
bubba.
oh, bubba, no.
come on. come on. come here.
if i'd a known this was gonna be the last time me and bubba was gonna talk, i'd a thought of something better to say.
hey, bubba.
you got shot.
then bubba said something i won't even forget.
bubba was my best good friend. and even i know that ain't something you can find just around the corner. bubba was gonna be a shrimpin' boat captain, but instead he died right there by that river in vietnam.
that's all i have to say about that.
a bullet?
oh, yes sir. bit me directly in the buttocks. they said it was a million dollar wound, but the army must keep that money, 'cause i still ain't seen a nickel of that million dollars. the only good thing about being wounded in the buttocks.
is the ice cream. they gave me all the ice cream i could eat. and guess what. a good friend of mine was in the bed right next door.
lieutenant dan, i got you some ice cream. lieutenant dan, ice cream.
i'm forrest gump.
for some reason, ping pong came very natural to me.
so i started playing it all the time.
i played ping-pong even when i didn't have anyone to play ping-pong with.
the hospital's people said it made me look like a duck in water, whatever that means. even lieutenant dan would come and watch me play.
i played ping-pong so much, i even played it in my sleep.
well.  yes, sir, i do.
yo-you're still lieutenant dan.
yes, sir!
guess what, lieutenant dan, they want to give me a me.
ma'am, what'd they do with lieutenant dan?
two weeks later, i left vietnam.
in the buttocks, sir.
after that, momma went to the hotel to lay down, so i went out for a walk to see our national capital.
it's a good thing momma was resting, 'cause the street was awful crowded with people looking at all the statues and monuments. and some of them people were loud and pushy.
everywhere i went, i had to stand in line.
okay.
there was this man, giving a little talk. and for some reason, he was wearing an american flag for a shirt.
and he liked to say the "f" word. a lot. "f" this and "f" that. and every time.
he said "f" word, people, for some reason, well, they'd cheer.
the war in vietnam?
well.
there was only one thing i could say about the war in vietnam.
there was only one thing i could say about the war in vietnam.
in vietnam war.
and that's all i have to say about that.
my name is forrest gump. forrest gump.
jenny!
it was the happiest moment of my life.
jenny and me were just peas and carrots again. she showed me around, and even introduced me.
to some of her new friends.
he should not be hitting you, jenny.
sorry i had a fight in the middle of your black panther party.
i would never hurt you, jenny.
i wanted to be your boyfriend.
you know what?
i'm glad we were here together in our national capitol.
we walked around all night, jenny and me, just talkin'.
she told me about all the travellin' she's done.
and how she'd discovered ways to expand her mind and learn how to live in harmony.
which must be out west somewhere, 'cause she made it all the way to california.
i was a very special night for the two of us. i didn't want it to end.
i wish you wouldn't go, jenny.
you know what i think? i think you should go home to greenbow. alabama!
i want you to have this.
i got it just by doing what you told me to do.
you're my girl.
and just like that, she was gone out of my life again.
i thought i was going back to vietnam, but instead, they decided the best way for me to fight communists was to play ping-pong. so i was in the special services, traveling around the country cheering up all them wounded veterans and showing them how to play.
ping-pong. i was so good that some years later.
the army decided i should be on the all-american ping-pong team. we were the first americans to visit the land of china in like a million years or something like that, and somebody said that world peace was in our hands. but all i did was play ping-pong. when i got home.
i was national celebrity. famouser even than captain kangaroo.
well, in the land of china, people hardly got nothing at all.
and in china, they never go to church.
some years later, that nice young man from england was on his way home to see his little boy and was signing some autographs. for no particular reason at all, somebody shot him.
now that's lieutenant dan. lieutenant dan!
yes sir, they sure did.
yes, sir.
lieutenant dan!
lieutenant dan said he was living in a hotel. and because he didn't have no legs, he spent most of his time exercising his arms.
what are you doing here in new york, lieutenant dan?
i stayed with lieutenant dan and celebrated the holidays.
i didn't know i was supposed to be looking for him, sir.
i'm going to heaven, lieutenant dan.
yes, sir.
shrimpin' boats.
i gotta buy me one of them shrimpin' boats as soon as i have some money. i made me a promise to bubba in vietnam, that as soon as the war was over, we'd go in partners. he'd be the captain of the shrimpin' boat and i'd be his first mate. but now that he's dead, that means that i gotta be the captain.
yes, sir. a promise is a promise, lieutenant dan.
okay.
my name is forrest, forrest gump.
it's funny, but in the middle of all that fun, i began to think about jenny.
wondering how she was spending her new year's night out in california.
happy new year, lieutenant dan!
i'm sorry i ruined your new year's eve party, lieutenant dan. she tastes like cigarettes.
i guess lieutenant dan figured there's some things you just can't change. he didn't want to be called crippled, just like i didn't want to be called stupid.
and wouldn't you know it.
a few months later they invited me and the ping-pong team to visit the white house. so i went again. and i met the president of the united states again.
only this time they didn't get us rooms in a real fancy hotel.
yes, sir.
it's called the hotel ebbott.
yeah, sir, you might want to send a maintenance man over to that office across the way. the lights are off, and they must be looking for the fuse box or something, 'cause them flashlights they're, they're keeping me awake.
thank you.
good night.
yes, sir!
does this mean i can't play ping pong no more?
and just like that, my service in the united states army was over. so i went home.
i'm home, momma.
now, when i got home, i had no idea that momma had had all sorts of visitors.
oh, momma. i only like using my own paddle. hi, miss louise.
that momma, she sure was right. it's funny how things work out.
i didn't stay home for long, because i'd made a promise to bubba. and i always try to keep my promise. so i went on down to bayou la batre to meet bubba's family and make their introduction.
stupid is as stupid does, mrs. blue.
and of course, i paid my respect to bubba himself.
hey, bubba, it's me, forrest gump. i remember everything you said, and i got it all figured out.
i'm taking the twenty-four thousand, five hundred and six-two dollars and forty-seven cents that i got.
well, that's left after a new hair cut and a new suit and i took momma out to real fancy dinner and i bought a bus ticket and three doctor peppers.
stupid is as stupid does, sir.
well, that's what's left after me saying, "when i was in china on the all-america ping-pong team, i just loved playing ping-pong with my flex- o-ping-pong paddle." which everybody knows it isn't true, but momma says it's just a little white lie so it wouldn't hurt nobody. so, anyway, i'm putting all that on gas, ropes and new nets and a brand-new shrimpin' boat.
now, bubba had told me everything he knows about shrimpin', but you know what i found out? shrimpin' is tough.
i only caught five.
i'd never named a boat before, but there was only one i could think of.
the most beautiful name in the wide world.
now, i hadn't heard from jenny in a long while. but.
but i thought about her a lot. and i hoped that whatever she was doing made her happy.
i thought about jenny all the time.
hi!
lieutenant dan, what are you doing here?
well, you ain't got no legs, lieutenant dan.
okay.
no, sir.
that's my boat.
which way?
okay.
still no shrimp, lieutenant dan.
well, how we gonna find them?
so i went to church every sunday.
sometimes lieutenant dan came, too. though i think he left the praying up to me.
no shrimp.
it's funny lieutenant dan said that, 'cause right then, god showed up.
now me, i was scared. but lieutenant dan, he was mad.
after that, shrimpin' was easy.
and since people still needed them shrimps for shrimp cocktails and barbecues and all.
and we were the only boat left standing "bubba-gump" shrimp's what they got. we got a whole bunch of boats. twelve jenny's, a big ol' warehouse, we even have hats that says "bubba-gump" on 'em. "bubba- gump shrimp." it's a household name.
yes, sir. we've got more money than davy crocket.
would you like to see what lieutenant dan looks like?
that's him right there.
and let me tell you something about lieutenant dan.
he never actually said so, but i think he made his peace with god.
where's momma?
what's the matter, momma?
why are you dyin', momma?
you did good, momma.
what's my destiny, momma?
momma always had a way of explaining things so i could understand them.
she had got the cancer and died on a tuesday. i bought her a new hat with little flowers on it.
and that's all i have to say about that.
didn't you say you were waiting for the number seven bus?
now, because i had been a football star, and a war hero, and a national celebrity, and a shrimpin' boat captain, and a college graduate, the city of fathers of greenbow, alabama, decided to get together and offered me a fine job.
so, i never went back to work for lieutenant dan.
though he did take care of my bubba- gump money. he got me invested in some kind of fruit company. and so then i got a call from him saying we don't have to worry about money no more.
and i said, "that's good. one less thing."
now, momma said there's only so much fortune a man really needs.
and the rest is just for showing off. so, i gave a whole bunch of it to the four square gospel church.
and i gave a whole bunch to the bayou la batre fishing hospital.
and even though bubba was dead, and lieutenant dan said i was nuts. i gave bubba's mommy bubba's share.
and you know what.
she didn't have to work in nobody's kitchen no more.
and 'cause i was godzillionaire and i liked doing it so much. i cut that grass for free.
but at nighttime, when there was nothing to do and the house was all empty, i'd always think of jenny.
and then, she was there.
hello, jenny.
jenny came back and stayed with me.
maybe it was because she had nowhere else to go. or maybe it was because she was so tired, because she went to bed and slept and slept like she hadn't slept in years. it was wonderful having her home.
every day we'd take a walk, and i'd jabber on like a monkey in a tree. and she'd listen about ping-pong and shrimpin' boats and momma makin' a trip to heaven. i did all the talkin'. jenny most of the time was real quiet.
big ol' gobs of rain and little bitty stinging rain and rain.
sometimes i guess there just aren't enough rocks.
i never really knew why she came back, but i didn't care. it was like olden times. we was like peas and carrots again.
every day i'd pick pretty flowers and put them in her room for her.
and she gave me the best gift anyone could ever get in the wide world.
new shoes.
and she even showed me how to dance. and, well, we was like family.  jenny and me.
and it was the happiest time of my life.
mm-hmm.
will you marry me? i'd make a good husband, jenny.
but you won't marry me.
why don't you love me, jenny? i'm not a smart man, but i know what love is.
jenny?
that day, for no particular reason, i decided to go for a little run.
so i ran to the end of the road, and when i got there, i thought maybe i'd run to the end of town.
and when i got there.
i thought maybe i'd just run across greenbow county. and i figured since i run this far, maybe i'd just run across the great.
state of alabama. and that's what i did i ran clear across alabama.
for no particular reason, i just kept on going. i ran clear to the ocean.
and when i got there, i figured since i'd gone this far, i might as well turn around, just keep on going.
when i got to another ocean, i figured since i've gone this far, i might as well just turn back, keep right on going.
when i got tired, i slept. when i got hungry, i ate.
when i had to go, you know, i went.
yeah.
i'd think a lot about momma and bubba, and lieutenant dan, but most of all, i thought about jenny. i thought about her a lot.
they just couldn't believe that somebody would do all that running for no particular reason.
i just felt like running.
i just left like running.
now, for some reason what i was doing seemed to make sense to people.
so, i got company.
and after that i got more company. and then.
even more people joined in. somebody later told me.
it gave people hope. now.  now, i don't know anything about that, but.
some of those people asked me if i could help them out.
it happens.
sometimes.
and some years later i heard that fella did come up with a bumper sticker slogan.
and he make a lot of money off of it.
another time i was running along, somebody who had lost all his money in the t-shirt business, and he wanted to put my face on a t-shirt, but he couldn't draw that well and he didn't have a camera.
have a nice day.
and some years later i found out that that man did come up with a idea for a t-shirt and he made a lot of money off of it.
anyway, like i was saying, i had a lot of company. my momma always said you got to put the past behind you before you can move on. and i think that's what my running was all about. i had run for three years, two months, fourteen days, and sixteen hours.
i'm pretty tired. i think i'll go home now.
and just like that, my running days was over. so, i went home to alabama.
oh, thank you, miss, miss louise.
one day, out of the blue clear sky, i got a letter from jenny.
wondering if i could come down to savannah to see her, and that's what i'm doing here. she saw me on tv, running, i'm supposed to go on the number nine bus to richmond street and get off and go one block left to 1-9-4-7 henry street, apartment 4.
down that way?
it was nice talking' to you.
hi.
i got your letter.
is this your house?
it's nice. you got air conditioning.
ah.
i ate some.
i ran a long way. for a long time.
hello.
you're a momma, jenny.
like me.
he got a daddy named forrest, too?
he's the most beautiful thing i've ever seen. but.  is, is he smart, or is he.
what are you watching.
what, do you have a cough due to cold?
you could come home with me. jenny, you and little forrest could come stay at my house in greenbow. i'll take care of you if you're sick.
okay.
lieutenant dan? lieutenant dan!
you got new legs. new legs!
magic legs.
lieutenant dan!
lieutenant dan, this is my jenny.
hey.
yes. well, i, i don't know.
sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out. and then it was nice. it was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou.
there was over a million sparkles on the water. like that mountain lake.
it was so clear, jenny. it looks like there were two skies, one on top of the other. and then in the desert, when the sun comes up.
i couldn't tell where heavens stopped and the earth began. it was so beautiful.
you were.
you died on a saturday morning.
and i had you placed here under our tree.
and i had that house of your father's bulldozed to the ground.
momma.
always said dyin' was a part of life.
i sure wish it wasn't. little forrest, he's doing just fine.
about to start school again soon. i make his breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
every day. i make sure he combs his hair and brushes his teeth every day. teaching him how to play ping pong.
okay.
he's really good.
forrest, you go.
we fish a lot.
and every night, we read a book. he's so smart, jenny. you'd be so proud of him. i am. he, uh, wrote a letter, and he says i can't read it. i'm not supposed to, so i'll just leave it here for you.
jenny, i don't know if momma was right or if, if it's lieutenant dan. i don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but i, i think maybe it's both. maybe both is happening at the same time. i miss you, jenny. if there's anything you need, i won't be far away.
here's your bus. okay.
hey, i know this.
my favorite book.
well.
okay. hey, there you go.
hey, forrest. don't.  i wanted to tell you i love you.
i'll be right here when you get back.